


you feel like the sun on my face

by donutcats



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Pope offering JJ some help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24262654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donutcats/pseuds/donutcats
Summary: You know those memories that just sort of exist? Perfect insular moments where the context is blurry and maybe it’ll come to you if you really think or talk it out but the single moment is clear as day. Where sometimes you’re half convinced you made it up but you can’t be sure. JJ has one of those memories.
Relationships: JJ/Pope (Outer Banks)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 109





	you feel like the sun on my face

**Author's Note:**

> there's no real context to this. I was just hit with a cute little thought the other day about the boys as kids and I had to write it out. It's super short, but I'm still really happy with it. I love speculating about their friendship when they were younger since the show didn't really gives us anything.
> 
> title from summer daze by all time low. the vibe of the song and this fic don't exactly match up, but I heard that lyric and had to use it.

You know those memories that just sort of exist? Perfect insular moments where the context is blurry and maybe it’ll come to you if you really think or talk it out but the single moment is clear as day. Where sometimes you’re half convinced you made it up but you can’t be sure.

JJ has one of those memories. Well, JJ has a lot of those memories. Moments that are sharp and clear and won’t let themselves be forgotten. He knows this one is real though, it’s not one of those memories that you’re never quite sure how much of it is a fake narrative. He might not remember the first half of the day, or the specifics on how it all started, but that one moment crystallized itself in a bubble of nostalgia. 

He was about ten years old and sitting in one of those uncomfortable chairs just outside of the Principal’s office. His fingers were going numb because of the cold pack he had pressed to his jaw. The sole of his boot made an awful squeaking noise against the linoleum every time he put just enough pressure and twisted his foot. The rest of the hallway was quiet, everyone trickling out at the end of the day.

Pope turned the corner just then, catching JJ’s attention. There was a pause, as Pope stopped in his tracks and noticed JJ, as the boys stared at each other. And then Pope let out a sigh and walked closer.

"Did you get into another fight?" He asked, hands holding the straps of his backpack tight. JJ nodded without thinking and then winced at the reminder of the pain in his face. Pope made a face like he was thinking, chin tilted down, corner of his mouth tucked between his teeth. “Did they deserve it?”

JJ snapped his head up, because he wasn’t exactly expecting that question, especially not from the little law abiding nerd boy who does his weekend homework first thing on Saturdays. But if there’s one thing JJ had learned in the short time of them being friends, it’s that Pope has a bit of a talent when it comes to surprising him. 

“Yeah, he did. Was talkin’ shit so I decided to smash his teeth in.” 

Pope made a little humming noise, the type Pope always makes when he sees no fault in the explanation but disagrees with the way it was handled. He glanced towards the door of the office and back to JJ. “Are they calling anyone for you?”

Which could be taken at face value. But there’s something underneath the words, behind the tone, that JJ can hear. A small whisper of worry. An unspoken question tucked between the letters of what really came out of Pope’s mouth.

“Told 'em my dad is off on some business trip."

"Is he?" 

A closed lip smile pulled at JJ’s mouth, reopening the split at the very corner. "Nope." 

"So, who are you waiting for?"

Pope always had questions. It was hard to have a conversation with him that wasn’t filled with questions. JJ was getting used to it though, he remembers the annoyance that would threaten to bubble up but then he’d take one look at Pope’s face, the genuine curiosity, and it would fizzle out. It felt like he wanted to gather all the information he could before deciding on the right thing to say. 

Still feels that way sometimes, if JJ is being honest.

“John B said he’d ask his dad to pick me up. I’m just waiting on the principal's final say. To see if I get the gallows or if I walk a free man.” JJ always liked to pull out words that people never expected him to use. Gallows isn’t even that impressive, but it felt like it at the time. See, JJ wasn’t stupid. At least not in the ways people thought.

He just liked to use his knowledge to be a bit of a bastard. It was always more fun that way.

But it was Pope he was talking to. And Pope never seemed surprised when JJ decided to say something that seemed a bit out of his vocabulary. Maybe because Pope knew that he actually listened to the things Pope would say, and he’d just store those words away for later. 

Another sigh, a breath so quiet it didn’t sound annoyed. Just, resigned maybe. Like he was making up his mind about something. Pope’s backpack thumped against the leg of his chair and then he was sitting down, settling in. “Alright.

“What are you doing?” A note of surprise leaked into his voice, he couldn’t help it. 

“Waiting with you.” Pope had shrugged, unzipped his backpack and pulled out a book. Required reading. Figures. “If John B isn’t back by the time my dad gets here, we can give you a ride.”

JJ couldn’t stop staring, it felt foreign, for Pope to just join him like it was his plan all along. Like it was normal. For him to offer something so easily, a hand out palm up. JJ pressed the cold pack harder against his jaw, moved it around, to feel the little stab of ice in a spot that hadn’t been warmed by his skin.

The silence stretched on for a few minutes, as Pope cracked open his book to the little dog eared page, which was yet another moment where Pope surprised him. He didn’t seem like the type, to fold the pages of a book. JJ scuffed the toe of his boot along the floor, dug it in and twisted. “Ok.” He finally replied, a quiet sound. “Sounds like a plan.” 

Pope just smiled at him. A genuine smile, and JJ had the sudden thought that he wanted to bottle it. That’s the bit of the memory that’s the clearest. It all spiderweb’s out from that. From wanting to capture Pope’s smile and keep it forever. How it always reminds him of bright things, even to this day. Like catching fireflies on a muggy summer night, or the way the sun glints off the water in the early morning. A row of familiar street lamps in the dead of night, halogen lights warm and inviting after a long night out. 

It makes him feel warm. He remembers holding onto that smile, folding it away into his memories so he could take it out and look at it, over and over. 

**Author's Note:**

> if you like my writing, please check out;  
> [my twitter!](https://twitter.com/kaijucats)  
> [my tumblr!](https://donutcats.tumblr.com/)


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